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Global Food Security Germplasm Connections: New Crop Varieties in Food-Insecure Countries Ken Richards Research Manager Canadian Genetic Resources Program Agriculture Outlook Forum 2012 Moving Agriculture Forward USDA- Growing, Innovating, and Celebrating 150 Years Friday, February 24, 2012

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Irrigation Canal have opened up the desert areas for agriculture along the Nile River, Egypt Major issues for Food Security World population Climate change Resource availability Major crop yield optimization

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18501900195020001800 Atmospheric CO 2 5001000150020000 Global population How do we feed more people without further damaging our planet? Photo courtesy Earth Observatory NASAEarth Observatory

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World Population 7 billion (2011) United Nations, 2010 Revision of the World Population Prospects world population reached 7 Billion on October 31, 20112010 Revision of the World Population Prospects The US Census Bureau has a lower estimate, for which the 7 billion mark will only be reached on March 12, 2012lower estimate World population density

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Study Reveals Future Hotspots of Risk for Hundreds of Millions Whose Food Problems are on a Collision Course with Climate Change Scientists Warn Disaster Looms for Parts of Africa and India if Chronic Food Insecurity Converges with Crop- wilting Weather; Latin America also Vulnerable Press release July 11, 2011 Five percent reduction in crop season, sensitivity to change, capacity to cope

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) Global food production is still increasing, but yield increases are slowing noticeably. Annual yield increases above 2% for major crops, enjoyed until recently, have now fallen substantially below that mark. Global Yield Growth Rates (% per year) Reduction in productivity growth related Crop 1960-1990 1990-2007 to declining growth in agricultural R& D corn 2.20 1.77 spending; many major countries wheat 2.95 0.52 rice 2.19 0.96 Producer groups warn major investment in R& D needed Source: Alston, Beddow, Pardey (2010)

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Raw material for new crop varieties Current and obsolete cultivars Traditional landraces / farmers varieties Elite breeders lines Wild relatives and wild sources of food Global Interdependency for food security; no country can do it alone Requires on-going human management; ex situ conservation Farmers need new crops to face new challenges, pests, market conditions, global climate change, opportunities Value to agriculture lies in diversity within a crop, not at the species level

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7.4 million accession worldwide - 20% increase since 1996 - much duplication; about 1/3 unique - increase in minor crops and crop wild relatives 1750 genebanks worldwide 8 countries hold > 45% of germplasm accessions: USA, China, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Canada, Brazil

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Crop # accessionsHolders wheat856,168CIMMYT, USA, China, India rice773,948IRRI, India, China, Japan barley466,531Canada, USA, Brazil, ICARDA maize327,932CIMMYT, Portugal, USA, China bean261, 963CIAT, USA, Brazil, Mexico sorghum 235,688ICRISAT, USA, China, India soybean 229,944China, USA, Korea, AVRDC oat130,653Canada, USA, Russia, Germany groundnut 128,435 ICRISAT, India, USA, Argentina chickpea 98,313 ICRISAT, India, ICARDA, Australia

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Photo credits: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT and IRRICIMMYTIRRI Examples from 3 of 12 important world crops: wheat, rice, cassava

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CGIAR is an international organization of agricultural research groups

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From Dubcovsky, J. and Dvorak, J. (2007). Genome Plasticity a Key Factor in the Success of Polyploid Wheat Under Domestication. Science. 316: 1862-1866. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.1862-1866

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Distinguished plant breeder and Nobel Laureate Norman BorlaugNorman Borlaug 1914-2009 One of the most significant accomplishments of 20 th century science was the development of lodging- resistant, high-yielding semi-dwarf grain varieties CIMMYT based

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The introduction of disease-resistant, semi- dwarf varieties turning countries from grain importers to grain exporters Source: FAO via Brian0918Brian0918 Dwarf wheat was developed at CIMMYT the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

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CIMMYT headquarters CIMMYT evaluation sites Global mandate for wheat and maize development

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stem rust strain spreading across Africa, to Asia and Middle East first discovered, Uganda, 1999 reduces yields by 50-70%; major threat to world food security two Kenyan varieties (Eagle 10, Robin) have resistance developed by Kenya Agricultural Research Institute screened 200,000 wheat accessions; diverse sources 10% with some level of resistance very few adapted to African environment

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RICE : IIRI = International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos Laguna, Philippines Global mandate, focus Asia

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1961 20001980 World rice yield (ton/ha) (FAO) Photo courtesy IRRIIRRI IR8, released in 1966, was to tropical rices what the Model T Ford was to automobiles. It was known as miracle rice because of its high yields.

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IR 64 original rice genome Mutations Recombinations Translocations Deletions Inversions Breeding tree of Indica Rice IR64 One of the most widely grown crops, Indica rice IR64 is the product of a complex breeding program resulting from extensive genomic modification, mutation, deletion and rearrangement Slide courtesy of Ingo PotrykusIngo Potrykus

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Wild Shattering grain Brittle rachis Advantage maximizes seed dispersal Domesticated Non-shattering grain Tough rachis Advantage facilitates harvesting From Konishi, S., Izawa, T., Lin, S.Y., Ebana, K., Fukuta, Y., Sasaki, T., and Yano, M. (2006). An SNP caused loss of seed shattering during rice domestication. Science 312: 1392-1396. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.1392-1396

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Many rice-growing regions are prone to flooding. In Pakistan, 2010 a huge, deadly, flood submerged 17 million acres (69,000 km 2 ) and destroyed much of the rice harvest. Photo credits: Abdul Majeed Goraya / IRIN; NASA GoddardIRINNASA July 2010 Sept. 2010 50 km

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Sensitive rice cannot survive prolonged flooding Submergence-tolerant Sub1 rice growth arrests during flooding, enhancing survival FLOODING Water retreats

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*3 rd largest source of carbohydrates in the tropics *basic diet for about B people *new variant of a cassava disease Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) affecting large parts of East Africa; $2B damage *None of the varieties currently distributed to farmers seem to be tolerant * Genetic resource collections providing sources of resistant germplasm *5436 accessions CIAT (Columbia) *2889 accessions CNPMF (Brazil) *2756 accessions IITA (Nigeria) *1327 accessions ICAR (India) *since 2007 regional plant breeding -4 varieties Zanzibar -8 varieties Nigeria by IITA & partners -8 varieties Tanzania -Uganda: breeding underway

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He foresaw a forced return to subsistence-level conditions once population growth had outpaced agricultural production. Can the world feed so many people? Answer: Qualified yes Next decades will be rough: Climate change Productivity with low nutrition Poverty continuance Distribution challenges Inadequate govt policies Underfunded AGR R&D Economic vs environmental clashes Gene banks and genetic resources will play a crucial role in food security